Lory Meaghar Cup

[Lone Shark]

I see the great quest to somehow make Hurling competitive has led to a fourth tier of intercounty competition this year, with the creation of this new contest. Now I'm all for doing anything it takes to export hurling north of the N6, but I'm intrigued by these new entities "Non-Ards Down" and Fingal. If I were a Donegal or Tyrone hurler and my path to a national trophy was being barred by such an arbitrary entity I'd be a little bit aggrieved, but assuming that the principle is in place, can anyone answer if Offaly asked to be part of this, or indeed is there any reason why we wouldn't?

A North Offaly hurling team, incorporating Gracefield, Edenderry, Brosna Gaels, Clara, Ballinamere and anyone else from that part of the world who wanted to be part of it would surely be moderately competitive at that level, plus it would also be a handy step up to a higher level for some of those players. Now perhaps the idea was mooted and shot down, either by higher authorities or by the clubs involved themselves, but why not? If the principle is going to be applied for Dublin in particular, well surely we need help in the small ball code as much as they do? Or does this go back to our unwillingness to fight for any extra bit of advantage just in case we're seen to be talking down our "great little county" mantra, which as I've discussed before, is a huge albatross around our necks. (For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, it's an old thread you can find here - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1359)

Anyone on the inside know if anyone put any thought on this, or what happened to shoot it down if they did?

[joe bloggs]

I'd say that a north offaly hurling team would be very good for the development of the game in the county, but seeing as we have dont even play at Intermediate or junior team i couldn't see the county board being bothered. A lot of the players would probably be dual players and this would be used as a roadblock too.